Men's Tennis

Road Trips Continue for PLU Men's Tennis Team

Jake Yannello

Mar 14, 2013

COMING UP: Pacific Lutheran plays the fouth of nine straight matches away from the friendly confines of Sprinker Tennis Center when it faces NCAA Division I Seattle U at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Seattle University Tennis Courts. The Lutes go into the match with a 6-2 record, including last Friday's 7-0 loss to Western Washington, the only other Division I team on PLU's schedule.

ABOUT SEATTLE U: The Redhawks are currently 0-10 for the season and play a doubleheader against the University of Washington on Friday. Pacific Lutheran has a 31-14 all-time record in men's tennis against Seattle. In the last three meetings between the programs Seattle U has won two (4-3 in 2009 and 7-0 in 2011) and lost one (5-4 in 2010). Prior to that, PLU had beaten the Redhawks seven straight times. The teams did not face each other a year ago.

LUTES ON THE ROAD: As mentioned, the Lutes are in the midst of a month away from their home court. They are 2-1 in the previous three road contests (victories over Puget Sound and Whitworth, a loss to Eastern Washington), and next week head to Southern California where they are scheduled to play five opponents. They play at Cal Tech and face McPherson (Kansas) at Cal Tech on March 23, battle Chapman on March 24, Occidental on March 26 and Biola on March 27.

PLU 6, WHITWORTH 3: The bottom half of the ladder led visiting Pacific Lutheran to a 6-3 win over Whitworth last Saturday at the Scotford Tennis Center. PLU grabbed a 2-1 lead through the doubles matches with Luke Olson and Sam Angel winning at No. 2 and cousins Mitch and Jake Yannello victorious at No. 3. With the team score tied 3-3 heading to the bottom half of the ladder, the Lutes put the match away. Mitch Yannello won at No. 4, Taylor Dickey at No. 5 and Jake Yannello at No. 6. Angel picked up a big win at No. 3 singles. "The Yannello cousins really stepped up their game today, as did Sam Angel helping us sweep numbers three through six in the singles," Poulin said. "We knew it would be a very important match to help separate us a little bit in the standings, and coming to Whitworth is always a tough place to play," PLU head coach Rocky Poulin said.

EASTERN WASHINGTON 7, PLU 0: Pacific Lutheran played up two levels last Friday and found the adjustment to be too much to overcome as the Lutes lost a 7-0 non-conference match to NCAA Division I Eastern Washington. The closest of the three doubles matches came at No. 2 where Sam Angel and Luke Olson lost to Arturo Carpio and Eduardo Bringold, 8-6. Olson had the closest singles match, losing to Eduardo Martinez 6-3, 6-4. Angel lost to Tomas Aranquiz 6-1, 6-4.